Nancy H.
Yelp
I need to confess two things:
1. Despite my frequent visits to Granville Island over the past 6 years, since I moved to Vancouver, I never visited this art gallery here. In fact, I didn't even know it existed.
2. I'm embarrassed to admit, despite my love for the arts (and especially Canadian art), I wasn't aware of the Federation of Canadian Artists until recently, when my artist friend became a member of this long-standing prestigious organization.
The organization runs the gallery here and, technically, the gallery is named "Federation Gallery". That's what the signage says. (Side note: I was going to create a "new business" here on Yelp for the Federation Gallery, but decided to use the existing organizational name, and this existing page).
This is such a wonderful gallery, in so many ways! It's not the biggest or the poshest gallery. There are no snooty folks walking around, and no employees hovering as you browse. No-one tries to sell you anything (although the works here are available for purchase). No-one looks down on you if you ask questions about the showcased pieces or the artists. But there ARE a lot of diverse artworks, in various mediums, in diverse formats, in different genres, all done by Canadian artists, all members of the Federation.
I like how here you can see up-and-coming local artists. So many are so talented! I found this passage on their website SO interesting:
"The FCA continues to operate as a registered charity with members throughout Canada and Chapters in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario. The FCA is dedicated to raising artistic standards by stimulating participants to greater heights of knowledge and achievement by offering what is believed to be the first completely artists' sponsored gallery in Canada. Currently the Federation is the only national-level visual arts organization that manages their own full-time art gallery". Cool!
While visiting, I signed up for their email list, to get advance notice of their openings and events and art shows.
If you're interested in art, I encourage you to visit this gallery and to check out their website.